A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to routing systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods for allocating bandwidth for the processing of packets within a router.
B. Description of Related Art
Conventional networks typically include routers that route packets from one or more sources to one or more destinations. A packet is a format in which data of variable size can be transmitted through a network. A router is a switching device that receives packets containing data or control information at input ports and, based on destination or other information included in the packets, routes the packets through output ports to the destinations or intermediary destinations. Conventional routers determine the proper output port for a particular packet by evaluating header information included in the packet.
Conventional routers include buffers to support a particular bandwidth. If the input bandwidth exceeds the bandwidth of the router, the router may drop data or packets. The amount of input bandwidth may depend on a number factors, including the input line rate, the speed of the output determination process, and the blocking characteristics of the switching mechanisms of the router. Input bandwidth also relates to the processing power of the router. The processing power typically depends on the size of the memory (i.e., bigger and faster systems require larger memory capacities) and the ability of the router to determine where to route packets.
A key problem in designing routers is making them scale to larger aggregate bandwidths. To process a larger amount of bandwidth in a single conventional router, the size and configuration of the router typically has to be modified or redesigned. The process of modifying a router to increase bandwidth capability usually entails tedious design processes with the risk that the new design will not perform as intended or integrate well with other routers in the network, the outlay of resources (both monetary and human), as well as time delays. Building larger routers is often difficult due to hard technology limits on the integrated circuits the routers use. As a result of long development times and costs for redesigning an entire router, Internet service providers often cannot keep up with the increase in bandwidth demand.
Therefore, there exists a need for systems and methods that increase the bandwidth for processing of packets in a router.